REVEALED: Hundreds killed or seriously injured on Lancashire's roads last year
Road safety charity Brake says the number of road deaths and serious injuries in Britain is “deeply worrying”, and has called for more government action.
Lancashire Constabulary reported 50 road deaths and 685 serious injuries last year, Department for Transport figures show – roughly the same as in 2017.
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Hide AdThe total number of casualties, which includes slight injuries, also stayed steady.
The DfT warns against comparing year-on-year figures, however, due to changes in 2016 to the way some forces record the severity of road injuries. The figures represent all accidents that happened on a public road and involved at least one vehicle, horse rider or cyclist.
Across Britain, serious injuries rose slightly in 2018, to 27,811, while 1,782 people were killed on the roads.
This was similar to the level seen since 2012, but followed a significant drop in the number of road deaths over the previous decade.
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Hide AdBrake has called on the Government to set out clear targets to eliminate the “unacceptable” number of road deaths and serious injuries.
A spokesman said: “These figures are deeply worrying and highlight the continued stagnation in Britain’s road safety record. We would never accept such carnage in rail or aviation, so why should we on the road?”
Nicholas Lyes, head of roads policy at the RAC, said the figures “make for stark reading”.
A DfT spokesperson said: “The UK has some of the safest roads in the world and the number of deaths has fallen by 30 per cent since 2008.
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Hide Ad“We recently announced our comprehensive road safety statement, setting out 74 actions we will take over the next two years to help reduce the number of people who are killed or injured on our roads.”